January 29, 2005

It's snuggled into the spot in the driveway snow that was made by trusty Li'l Greenie last Saturday when the big snow fell:

The new car is easy and fun to drive. It takes off like mad from a dead stop. It doesn't seem to be going very fast when it is. Here are some little things about it that I like: You can adjust the height of the seat and reposition the steering wheel -- just knowing you can rearrange these things is a psychological comfort. You can set the temperature you want, and it won't even start blowing the fan on you until it's got warm air to blow. You can dial up as much heat as you want to come from the seat and keep warm from that, which lets you set the blowing air nicely fresh. There's a display showing you how many more miles you can drive on the gas that you have -- great for driving on the Interstate when you've got that driving bug and don't want to stop until there are at least three major reasons to stop. Satellite radio! I love satellite radio!

I picked XM over Sirius for a few reasons (including a prediction of its future financial position). I must say I love the "decades" channels. I've listened to all of them, but I am so much a 60s persons, especially musically. I'm happy to hear things like "Please, Mr. Postman" and "Peppermint Twist," and I'm fascinated by top ten lists in which "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" was number one last week and has fallen to number three, news reports about the war in Vietnam, and readings of the TV Guide listings from 1962. There are lots of other channels too, and a digital readout identifies the song and the artist. I really appreciate all the news channels: BBC, C-Span, CNN, etc. I look forward to driving across the mountains and deserts with this. Maybe a Spring Break jaunt to Santa Fe -- and a summer trip across the northern strip of American states!